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The Cape sparrow or mossie (''Passer melanurus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae found in southern Africa. A medium-sized sparrow at , it has distinctive plumage including large pale head stripes. Both sexes are mostly coloured grey, brown, and chestnut, and the male has some black and white markings on its head and neck. It inhabits semi-arid savannah, cultivated areas, and towns, and ranges from the central coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Swaziland. Three subspecies are distinguished. Cape sparrows are primarily granivorous, and also eat soft plant parts and insects. The birds typically breed in colonies and gather in large, often nomadic flocks while not breeding. The nest can be constructed in a variety of locations, in a tree or a bush in a hole or an empty nest of another species. A typical clutch contains three or four eggs, and both parents are involved in breeding from nest building to feeding young. The Cape sparrow is common in most of its range and coexists successfully in urban habitats with two of its relatives, the introduced house sparrow and native southern grey-headed sparrow. The population has not been recorded decreasing significantly, so according to the IUCN Red List the species is not threatened. == Description == For a sparrow, the Cape sparrow is brightly coloured and distinctive, and is medium-sized at long.〔 The breeding male has a mostly black head, but with a broad white mark on each side, curling from behind the eye to the throat. On the throat a narrow black band connects the black bib of the breast to black of the head. The underparts are greyish, darker on the flanks. The back of the male's neck is dark grey, and its back and shoulders are bright chestnut. The male has a white and a black wing bar below its shoulders, and flight feathers and tail streaked grey and black.〔 The female is plumaged like the male, but is duller and has a grey head with a different pattern from the male, though it bears a hint of the pale head markings of the male. The juvenile is like the female, but young males have black markings on the head from an early age. The Cape sparrow's vocalisations are chirps similar to those of the house sparrow, but much more musical and mellow.〔〔 The basic call is used in flight and while perching socially and transcribed as ''chissip'', ''chirrup'', ''chreep'', or ''chirrichup''.〔 A call used by the male to advertise nest ownership is transcribed as ''tweeng'' or ''twileeng''. Distinctive and loud, this call sometimes becomes a jerky and repetitive song, transcribed as ''chip cheerup, chip cheerup''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cape sparrow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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